Heating rack

ABSTRACT

A heating rack comprising a plurality of spaced discrete elongate members ( 26 ) which an object ( 16 ) to be heated is placed and exposed to a source of heat. Each member ( 26 ) having a main body ( 28 ) with two side faces ( 30 ) that, in use, extend in a vertical direction and along the member ( 26 ), and a side member ( 32 ) located at the lowermost extremity of each side face ( 30 ). Each side member is shaped, positioned, and arranged, relative to its respective side face ( 30 ) so that, in use, liquid from the object ( 16 ) when it is heated is induced to run down each side face ( 30 ) due to surface tension effects and is collected by each side member ( 32 ) and directed in a direction along each side member ( 32 ) to a collection region at one or both ends of the members ( 26 ).

This invention relates to heating racks and in particular, although notexclusively to heating racks for heating and cooking food. The inventionhas particular relevance to the cooking of fatty foods over naked flamessuch as barbecues.

It is to be understood that the present invention may be applied incooking ovens or in grills and industrial ovens. Where the contextpermits, the present invention may be used in the heating of otherobjects where heating the object results in the melting of the object.

One of the main problems with cooking fatty foods such as sausages,meat, kebabs, beef burgers and the like over charcoal or gas heatedsynthetic charcoal or coals, is that the fat runs down and drips intothe heated coals and ignites. This causes flames to rise and overcook orburn the food being cooked.

Often the resulting flare-up causes personal danger to the user and manya user of barbecues have barbecued more than they bargained for!

There have been a number of attempts, some very complex solutions, toprevent the fat from igniting. For example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,725,there is shown a grill having a grid element. The grid element comprisesa base element and upstanding ribs. Openings are provided.

One problem associated with the prior art is that those solutions haveresulted in a reduction of direct heat radiation from the heat source,which is undesirable because it reduces the cooking efficiency.

An object of the present invention is to provide a heating rack suitablefor use in barbecues, on open fires, in cooking ovens or in heatingfurnaces that reduces the risk of molten liquids dropping on to hotsurfaces or heating surfaces.

A particular object with regards to cooking of foods over hot charcoal,coals, synthetic coals and ceramics, or naked flames is to reduce therisk of juices and melted fats from dropping on to the heat source andthereby causing flare ups or increased smoke whilst at the same timeexposing more of the food to direct radiated or convected heat from theheat source.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided aheating rack comprising a plurality of elongate members, each elongatemember having a contact surface on which an object to be heated isplaced to be exposed to a heat source and a first lateral portion shapedto form a channel disposed below the contact surface for receiving anddirecting exudate from the object to a collection region at one or bothends of the channel. Each elongate member is spaced from an adjacentelongate member to expose the object directly to the heat source whenplaced at any position along the contact surface.

Beneficially, the vertical heat radiation is optimised, thereby toimprove cooking efficiency.

Optionally, each elongate member is spaced from an adjacent elongatemember by a distance in the range of 5 mm to around 15 mm, thereby toinduce flow of exudates by surface tension effect. In some embodimentsthe vertical distance between the contact surface and the proximal endof the lateral portion is about 1 mm or more, thereby to encourage flowof exudates into the channel by a surface tension effect.

Preferably, each elongate member has a side face extending between thecontact surface and the first lateral portion to encourage exudate fromthe object to flow from the contact surface to the channel positioned onone side of the contact surface. More preferably, each elongate memberhas a second side face extending between the contact surface and asecond lateral portion to form a second channel on the other side of thecontact surface. The lateral portions may be inclined along their lengthso that liquid collected by the channels is directed along the sidemembers to a collection region at one or both ends of the side members.In some embodiments, the lateral portions are inclined in two directionsalong their length.

In one class of embodiments, the elongate members are inclined alongtheir length so that the liquid collected by the channels is directed ina direction along the channels to a collection region at one or bothends of the main members.

The elongate members may be inclined in two directions along theirlength. Alternatively, the elongate members may be curved along theirlength being higher at a mid-span region than at their ends.

According to an optional feature of this aspect of the invention, theelongate members are formed from a sheet of metal that is folded todefine the main body with two side faces and the side members.

The elongate members may be of substantially inverted “T” shapecross-section, or “anchor” shape in cross-section.

According to another optional feature, the elongate members are mountedon support rods. Preferably, the support rods define a frame with rodsextending across the frame transverse to the members.

Each elongate member may comprise a sheet of metal that is folded into ashape that fits over a rod and defines the or each lateral portion andthe contact surface.

A second aspect of the invention is provided by a heating rackcomprising a plurality of spaced discrete elongate members having acontact surface on which an object to be heated is placed and exposed toa heat source and a lateral portion for forming a channel disposed belowthe contact surface for receiving exudate from the object, wherein thechannel is inclined along its length to direct the exudate to acollection region at one end of the channel. The elongate members may becurved along their length being higher at a mid-span region than attheir ends.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described, byway of an example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 shows schematically a cross-sectional view of a prior knownbarbecue using a known design of heating rack;

FIGS. 2 and 3 show schematically a cross-sectional view of heating rackmembers constructed in accordance with one aspect of the presentinvention, and show the stages of cooking a sausage;

FIG. 4 shows schematically a perspective view of the rack members ofFIGS. 2 and 3;

FIG. 5 shows a rack incorporating the rack members of FIGS. 2 and 3;

FIG. 6 shows schematically a perspective view of a barbecue tray for usewith the rack shown in FIG. 4;

FIGS. 7 to 12 show alternative cross-sectional shapes of rack membersconstructed in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 13 illustrates a plurality of rack members of the preferredembodiment shown in FIG. 12, mounted to a support rod.

Referring to FIG. 1 a known barbecue comprises a source of heat 10 whichmay be a naked flame, hot glowing charcoal, coke or coal, or syntheticheated “coals” made of ceramics, cement, or porous volcanic rocks heatedby gas flames. A rack 12 is positioned above the heat source 10 on whichfood to be cooked is placed. The rack 12 comprises a plurality of rackmembers in the form of spaced elongate bars 14 of circularcross-sectional shape. Conventionally the bars 14 are welded to asupporting frame (not shown) that extend transverse to the lengths ofthe bars 14.

FIG. 1 shows a sausage 16 that is heated by the heat source 10 to atemperature at which the fat 18 starts to melt and run along theunderside of the sausage. The fat 18 builds up to a droplet 20 thatfalls onto the heat source 10 and ignites. Some of the melted fat 18runs along the underside of the sausage until it touches the bars 14.The melted fat then builds up around the bars and drips off theunderside of the bars as a droplet 22. Here again, the fat 18 ignites orproduces smoke. The increased flames due to the burning fat 18 burns, orovercooks, the sausage 16 and produces further flow of fat and juicesthat fall onto the heat source 10. Before long, the cooking of thesausage 16 and other food on the rack 12 gets out of control.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 to 3 there is shown schematically a rack 24constructed in accordance with one aspect of the present invention whichperforms the same function as the rack 12 of FIG. 1 and show the stagesof cooking a similar sausage 16 to that shown in FIG. 1. However, therack 24 comprises a plurality of spaced elongate rack members 26 which,in this embodiment, is in the form of metal bars that are constructed inaccordance with the present invention.

Each member 26 has a contact surface 27 on which an object to be heatedis placed to be exposed to a heat source.

In the first embodiment, each bar 26 is of a generally inverted “T”shaped cross-section. That is to say that each member 26 comprises acentral main body 28, having faces 30 that extend along the length ofthe flange 26 and project in a downwards direction, and side members Inthe form of lateral portions (or side flanges) 32 adjacent to each sideface 30 of the main body 28. It is not necessary for the main body 28 tobe vertical, it could be inclined away from a vertical axis providingthat the faces 30 of the body 27 extend generally in a downwarddirection. The lateral portions 32 should define a channel 35 to collectany exudate 18, usually liquid or fat, that flows down the side faces 30of the main body 28. This will be further appreciated when one considersthe stages of heating a sausage 16 as shown in FIGS. 2 to 5.

Thus, there is shown in FIG. 2, a heating rack comprising a plurality ofelongate members 26, each elongate member 26 having a contact surface 27on which an object to be heated is placed to be exposed to a heat sourceand a first lateral portion 32 shaped to form a channel 35 disposedbelow the contact surface 27 for receiving and directing exudate fromthe object to a collection region at one or both ends of the channel.Each elongate member 26 is spaced from an adjacent elongate member 26 toexpose the object directly to the heat source when placed at anyposition along the contact surface 27.

In FIG. 2, the melted fat 18 flows to the bottom of the sausage 16 andstarts to run along the underside of the sausage 16. Providing themembers 26 are not too far apart, the melted fat will flow along theunderside of the sausage until it touches the members 26. In thepreferred embodiments the elongate members 26 should be spaced apartabout 5 mm to about 15 mm apart, and more preferably, about 12 mm whichencourages the fat to flow to the bars by the surface tension effect. Itis envisaged that the spacing could be greater, if desired.

As soon as the melted fat 18 touches the side faces 30 of the bars 26 itis induced to run down the faces 30 by the surface tension effect andwet the faces 30. The exudates collects on the upper surfaces of thelateral portions 32 within the channels 35. This is shown in FIG. 3.

Providing at least the upper surfaces of the lateral portions 32 or thechannels 35 are inclined, the melted fat collected in the channels 35can be directed along the lateral portions 32 towards one or both end ofthe elongate member 26 to a collection region (shown in FIG. 6). Theinclination of the channels 35 can be achieved by inclining each of themembers 26 slightly along their length by mounting them on support rods(not shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 but shown in FIG. 5) that extend transverseto the length of the members 26. Alternatively the bars 26 may be madeslightly curved as shown in FIG. 5 (being higher at mid span region thanat their ends).

The elongate members 26 and support rods can be constructed in a frameand adapted to be fitted or placed on existing heating racks, forexample the design shown in FIG. 1.

In FIG. 4 the bars 26 are tilted or inclined along their length, andhence the lateral portions 32, are slightly lower at the ends shown onthe left of the drawing. Therefore melted fat 18 that runs down thefaces 30 by surface tension and collects on the upper surface of theside flanges 28, runs along the length of each bar 26 and is poured intoa receptacle located beyond the heat source. This receptacle is notshown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 but reference is made here to FIG. 6 wheresuch a receptacle is shown.

In FIG. 5 there is shown one example of a rack 24 where the members 26are slightly curved, being higher at a mid-span region than at theirends. The members 26 are mounted on a frame 34 that has three supportrods 36 extending transverse to the length of the members 26. There maybe more or less support rods 36. The members 26 are welded to the frame34 at each end and rest on top of the rods 36. Clearly the amount ofcurvature of the bars 26 should not be so great as to cause food(sausages in particular) rolling off the rack 24 to one side.Preferably, a rack 24 which has the bars 26 about 1 to 2 mm higher inthe centre of the length of each bar 26 than the ends works well. Theorientation of the support boars 36 and elongate members 26 isnon-limiting and other options are envisaged without departing from thescope of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 6 there is shown a barbecue tray 38 having four legs39 and a lid or heat shield 40. Coals, charcoal or gas heated ceramic orsynthetic ucoalsn are placed in the tray 38 and ignited or heated.Although a rectangular tray is shown the tray could be of any shape,such as a circular shape and could have say three legs such as, forexample, similar to the common kettle-type barbecues.

The tray 38 of FIG. 6 incorporates two ledges 42 on to which the rack 24of FIG. 6 is rested. Each ledge 42 has a recess 43 which is in the shapeof a “V” shaped trench. The rack 24 is positioned so that the ends ofthe bars 26 terminate above the respective recess 43. In this way,molten fat 18 collected on the upper surfaces of the side flanges 32 ofthe bars 26 flows in a direction along the length of the bars 26 in twodirections and is collected in the respective recess 43. If desired,each recess 43 may slope towards the rear of the tray. Furthermore anaperture 44 could be provided in the bottom of each recess 43 so thatmelted fat runs out of the recess 43 through the aperture 44. Acontainer (not shown) may be positioned under the hole 44 to catch themolten fat 18.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 to 5 the lateral portions 32 formedon each side of main body 28 are slightly curved upwards to define thechannels 35. If desired the lateral portions 32 of each member 26 may beformed so that they project slightly upwards relative to the main body28 and define a shallow “V” shaped trough running along the uppersurface of the lateral portions 32. This is shown in FIG. 7.Alternatively the lateral portions 32 may take the form of a side flange32 which is relatively flat with a lip 46 running along the longitudinalextremity of the flanges. This is shown in FIG. 8.

The members 26 of FIGS. 2 to 8 are preferably made as metal bars formedby extruding or pultruding them. However the members 26 could be made byfolding thin metal sheets as shown in FIGS. 9 to 10 to define the mainbody 28 and side members 32. These embodiments define channels 35 thatare similar to the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 3.

In particular, in FIGS. 9 to 11, the main bodies 28 comprise a thinmetal sheet folded with the side faces 30 projecting downwards to defineequivalent structure to that of the lateral portion 28. In FIG. 9 thesheet is folded along two lines 48 to form side flanges 32 that projectslightly upwards. In FIG. 10 the sheet is folded about two lines 48 toform the side flanges 32 and then folded about two lines 49 to formangled lips 46 at the free ends of the side flanges 32.

Referring to FIG. 11 there is shown an insert that can be retrofitted toracks of the type shown in FIG. 1 to make full use of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 11 the insert is in the form of a thin metal sheet 45folded along an axis so as to wrap around a circular cross-section bar14. The sheet 45 is folded so that it has a main body 28 having twofaces 30 that project downwards and fulfil the same purpose as the faces30 of FIGS. 2 to 10. The sheet 45 is folded about two lines 49 to formside flanges 32 that extend slightly upwards. The lateral portions (orflanges) 32 perform the same function as those of FIGS. 2 to 10. Tosecure the sheet 45 in place on the bars 16 small tangs 47 projectingupwards are pressed out of the side faces to engage the underside of thebars 16. In this way the sheet 45 can be pressed on to the bars 16. Inso far as the present invention is concerned the combination of theknown circular cross-section bars 16 (or any other cross-sectional shapefor that matter) and the insert 45 shown in FIG. 11 are the equivalentof the members 26 of FIGS. 1 to 10. In order that existing racks can bemodified in this way it would be preferable to provide a receptacle atone or both ends of the insert to catch the melted fat.

A receptacle to collect the fat from the side members could be aseparate item or could be clipped to the members 26 or the support rods36 and/or inserts 45 of FIGS. 2 to 11.

In FIG. 12, there is shown a further embodiment of elongate member 26which is “anchor” shaped. The lateral portions (or side flanges) 32 arecurved upwards to define a deep channel 35 on each side of the main body28 to define a “U” shaped trough running along the upper surface of theside flanges 32.

In FIG. 13, there is shown a plurality of elongate members correspondingto the embodiment shown in FIG. 12 mounted on one or more support rods36. In order to encourage flow of exudate from the object being heated,by using surface tension effect, the preferred pitch P (or spacing)between adjacent elongate members is between about 5 mm and 15 mm, andmost preferably about 12 mm. In order to encourage the exudate to flowinto the channel 35, the preferred vertical height V between the contactsurface 27 and the proximal end 39 of the lateral portion 32 is about 1mm or more.

The preferred dimensions of the channel 35 are a width of at least 0.5mm (and preferably around 1 mm) and a height H of at least 1 mm (andpreferably about 2.5 mm), in order to reduce the risk of the channelbeing breached.

In some embodiments, the vertical height A of the main body 28 is in therange of 5 mm to 10 mm and the width M of the elongate member 26 is inthe range of 2 mm to 6 mm.

The aforementioned dimensions are provided by way of example only to aidunderstanding of one preferred embodiment. Of course, these dimensionscan be changed without departing from the scope of the invention.

It will be appreciated from the above that whilst the embodiments,illustrate opposed lateral portions, it is envisaged that the elongatemember 26 can comprise a single lateral portion 32 defining a singlechannel 35, without departing from the scope of invention. In someembodiments, the lateral portions 32 may be symmetrical relative to themain body 28 or asymmetrical. Furthermore, if the main body 28 isinclined to the vertical, the lateral portions 32 should preferablyextend in a horizontal direction sufficient to collect any fat runs downthe side faces 30. However, in order not to impede the cooking of foodplaced on the bars 26 and to increase exposure of the food to as muchdirect heating as possible, the lateral portions 32 should not extend tosuch an extent that they project under adjacent bars 26 or block offdirect heating from the heat source below the food. Ideally radiatedheat from the heat source 10 should have a direct vertical path to thefood on the bars.

It is to be understood that the members 26 and inserts 45 may be made ofsteel or cast iron. If desired they may be chromium plated or coatedwith polyletrafluroethylene (PTFE) or enamelled so as to provide anon-stick surface at least on surfaces 30 and the upper surfaces of theside members.

It will be appreciated that although the heating rack has been describedfor use in barbecues and the like, it may be used under grills or inovens and microwave ovens where the heat source is not necessarilyconfined to beneath the rack.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that by exploiting the surfacetension effect and inducing the fat to wet and run down the surfaces 30the spacing between the members 28 can be opened up and this helps toincrease the amount of exposure of the food item to radiated andconvective heat from below without fear of excessive dripping of fat onto the heat source. This has the advantage of improving the quality andflavour of the cooked food.

1. A heating rack comprising a plurality of elongate members, eachelongate member having a contact surface on which an object to be heatedis placed to be exposed to a heat source and a first lateral portionshaped to form a channel disposed below the contact surface forreceiving and directing exudate from the object to a collection regionat one or both ends of the channel, characterised in that each elongatemember is spaced from an adjacent elongate member to expose the objectdirectly to the heat source when placed at any position along thecontact surface.
 2. A heating rack as claimed in claim 1, wherein eachelongate member is spaced from an adjacent elongate member by a distancein the range of 5 mm to around 15 mm, thereby to induce flow of exudatesby surface tension effect.
 3. A heat rack as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe vertical distance between the contact surface and the proximal endof the lateral portion is about 1 mm or more, thereby to encourage flowof exudates into the channel by a surface tension effect.
 4. A heatingrack as claimed in claim 1, wherein each elongate member has a side faceextending between the contact surface and the first lateral portion toencourage exudate from the object to flow from the contact surface tothe channel positioned on one side of the contact surface.
 5. A heatingrack as claimed in claim 4, wherein each elongate member has a secondside face extending between the contact surface and a second lateralportion to form a second channel on the opposing side of the contactsurface.
 6. A heating rack according to claim 5, wherein the lateralportions are inclined along their length so that liquid collected by thechannels is directed along the side members to a collection region atone or both ends of the side members.
 7. A heating rack according toclaim 6, wherein the lateral portions are inclined in two directionsalong their length.
 8. A heating rack according to claim 1, wherein theelongate members are inclined along their length so that the liquidcollected by the channels is directed in a direction along the channelsto a collection region at one or both ends of the main members.
 9. Aheating rack according to claim 8 wherein the elongate members areinclined in two directions along their length.
 10. A heating rackaccording to claim 8, wherein the elongate members are curved alongtheir length being higher at a mid-span region than at their ends.
 11. Aheating rack according to claim 1, wherein the elongate members areformed from a sheet of metal that is folded to define the main body withtwo side faces and the lateral portion (s).
 12. A heating rack accordingto claim 1, wherein the elongate members are of substantially inverted“T” shape cross-section, or “anchor” shape in cross-section.
 13. Aheating rack according to claim 1, wherein the width of the or eachchannel is at least 0.5 mm and the vertical height of the or eachchannel is at least 1 mm.
 14. A heating rack according to claim 1,wherein the elongate members are mounted on support rods.
 15. A heatingrack according to claim 14, wherein the support rods define a frame withrods extending across the frame transverse to the members.
 16. A heatingrack according to claim 1, wherein each elongate member comprises asheet of metal that is folded into a shape that fits over a rod anddefines the or each lateral portion and the contact surface.
 17. Aheating rack according to claim 1, wherein a receptacle is provided tocollect fluids from the channels.
 18. A heating rack according to claim15, wherein the receptacle is suspended or attached to the elongatemembers.
 19. A barbecue heating device incorporating a rack constructedin accordance with claim
 1. 20. A heating rack comprising a plurality ofspaced discrete elongate members having a contact surface on which anobject to be heated is placed and exposed to a heat source and a lateralportion for forming a channel disposed below the contact surface forreceiving exudate from the object, wherein the channel is inclined alongits length to direct the exudate to a collection region at one end ofthe channel.
 21. A heating rack as claimed in claim 20, wherein theelongate members are curved along their length being higher at amid-span region than at their ends.
 22. A heat rack as claimed in claim2, wherein the vertical distance between the contact surface and theproximal end of the lateral portion is about 1 mm or more, thereby toencourage flow of exudates into the channel by a surface tension effect.